Pepper spray causes evacuation at BWI

Seven Transportation Safety Administration employees were hospitalized and two concourses were evacuated Monday morning after pepper spray filled the air at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport.

The airport's fire and rescue unit responded to Concourse B at around 8:45 a.m. for a report of an odor and irritant in the air, airport spokesman Jonathan Dean said. Airport officials evacuated passengers and employees from concourses A and B.

The irritant turned out to be pepper spray, found in a trash can near the Concourse B security checkpoint, Dean said. Seven TSA employees were taken to the hospital for evaluation and/or treatment, he said.

Southwest and Airtran airlines delayed several flights during the ordeal, though Dean didn't have exact figures on the number of flights or passengers that were affected.

The security checkpoint for Concourse A was reopened at about 9:25 a.m. and the checkpoint for Concourse B was reopened about about 9:45 a.m.

"By 10 (a.m.), the terminal had the appearance of a normal operation," Dean said.